Report: Al Jazeera in talks to buy Current TV: Middle East news org aims to expand U.S. distribution, sez NYT

January 02, 2013|AJ Marechal | Variety

Middle Eastern news cabler Al Jazeera is in talks to acquire Current TV, according to a published report.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Doha, Qatar-based Al Jazeera is in advanced talks to acquire the cabler founded in 2005 by former Vice President Al Gore and Joel

Hyatt. A rep for Current TV did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If the deal is completed, Al Jazeera would replace Current TV's programming with its own in as little as three months, according to the Times. Al Jazeera intends to establish a New York-based production hub, though it already has an English-lingo sister channel dubbed Al Jazeera English that has significant reach overseas in territories such as the U.K.

The Times reports the Gotham-based cabler would be named Al Jazeera America and create its own American news content, while also funneling content in from Al Jazeera English.

Acquiring Current TV would broaden the U.S. distribution base for Al Jazeera English, which is also based in Qatar. Al Jazeera English has had little traction in gaining carriage with major U.S. cable and satellite distribs since its launch in 2006, even though it has become a news staple internationally. What's more, many of Al Jazeera English's employees hail from major U.S. news nets including CNN, ABC and CBS, along with the BBC.

Some of Al Jazeera's news and docu programming airs Stateside on low-profile channels, and it is made available by satcaster Dish Network as part of an Arab-themed channel package.

Current TV reaches about 60 million cable homes but has persistently struggled with low ratings and a low profile -- even after it brought on MSNBC alum Keith Olbermann for a short-lived nightly program in 2011. Current TV put itself on the block in October (Daily Variety, Oct. 29).

It's unclear whether cable operators would be obligated to honor existing Current TV carriage contracts if the channel underwent a significant makeover under Al Jazeera. Earlier this week, Time Warner Cable dubbed Current TV one of the cable nets that may get dropped as the distributor aims to nix channels with low ratings.